Brief Moments
by Ziva Addy
Summary: A series of Mal/Zoe one-shots, expanded from a single one-shot that was based on The Train Job. Takes place through the whole series, chapter 3 has a tag to "Out of Gas"
1. The Train Job

"_Whatever happens, remember, I love you."_

"_Sir…?"_

She couldn't let herself hope. Not again. She had let her mind fantasize about that too many times after the war. The Captain was her hero then, and hell, he still is half the time. She couldn't help feeling what she did for him. It came with the territory, it came with Serenity Valley.

But now she was married. And she loved Wash, she truly did, but it wouldn't ever be the same as how she had loved the Captain. Mal. It wouldn't ever be the same as she had loved _Mal_. Those six words. Those measly six words. He couldn't mean it could he? No. But still, her breath caught and she tried to keep the hope out of her eyes.

"_Because you're my _wife._"_

She felt herself deflate on the inside. _Don't let him see. _Can't_ let him see._ She plastered a smile on her face. She hoped it looked relieved.

"_Right sir…Honey."_

_Honey._ She smirked on the inside. Even if that "I love you" was a farce, she could still call him honey. If only for a few moments.

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><p>"<em>Whatever happens, remember, I love you."<em>

"_Sir…?"_

Malcolm Reynolds tried to keep the blush down. What in the hell had he been thinking? Letting that slip. What a stupid move. _She's married you piece of go-se! You lost your chance. Let it go._ But right after he said those half dozen damning words, he thought he saw something. Something in her eyes, a sparkle that wasn't usually there. Hope? Could it be hope, or was that just wishful thinking on his part. Probably the latter. She's married. _Married. Hitched. Out of bounds._ So as quickly as he could he followed up his statement.

"_Because you're my wife."_

A flicker of something passed over Zoe's face. Disappointment? Sadness? Regret? No. It couldn't be. He was imagining it.

"_Right sir…Honey."_

The slight smirk on her face made him smile, albeit briefly. Well, at least once in his life, he got to hear her call him honey.

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><p><strong>AN: First Firefly fic :) Remember that every review helps get the show back on the air!**


	2. Shindig

**A/N: Hey guys! New fic time...again. Still no time to write an actual long, detailed chapter for Adjusting (which you should all totally go read) but enough time to work on a really quick one shot!  
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><p>"Look at the fluffy one!"<p>

"Nah if I'm gonna wear a dress, I want something with some slink."

Mal's anger from his fight with Inara faded. Zoe. Red dress. Silk. Skin. Miles and miles upon skin. He froze and could feel the back of his neck start to drip with sweat. Distantly he could hear Wash asking money for a dress, Jayne making a (typical) callous comment, and Zoe threatening him with a smile on her face.

_Snap out of it. **Snap out of it.**_

__He shook his head, and tuned back into the world just in time to hear Kaylee say "I like all the ruffles."

_Can't think about dresses. Don't think about it. Don't think about it._

"What are you gonna do in that rig?" He snapped. "Flounce around the engine room?"

As Kaylee and Zoe stalked off, it wasn't so much the shame of what he said than the fire from the look on Zoe's face that burned his insides.

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><p>Later, he wanted nothing more than to ask Zoe to accompany him to that fancy shindig that he was due at. She'd be more useful anyway. But he had to make things right with Kaylee, and this was the best way to do it.<p>

That red silky dress would just have to wait for a different job.

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><p><strong>AN: Awwwww. Mal making the sacrifice. I'll continue this story with more one-shot's later, but I'm so crunched for time right now, that it is ridiculous. **

**Review!  
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	3. Out of Gas

**A/N: Hey guys! New chapt time...again. Still no time to write an actual long, detailed chapter for Adjusting (which you should all totally go read) but enough time to work on a really quick one shot!  
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><p>Zoe woke up, blinking, and the first thing she registered was pain. Her entire body, but her head felt like there was an armada of purplebacks with machine guns, shooting their way out from the inside. She groaned and tried to sit up, only to be constrained by her husband, and Simon (and the blackening corners around her eyes, if she was gonna be honest). Blinking her vision clear, she decided to try out her throat.<p>

"What happened?" she croaked.

Wash smiled. "You took a little tumble, baby. We weren't sure you were gonna wake up for a little while there." He looked over to Simon. "She gonna be okay, Doc?"

Simon looked his typical, emotionless, slightly pouty self. "Well without some of the instruments that you made me leave in the med bay, I can't be certain, but she looks well enough."

It took a few seconds for his words to completely register in Zoe's foggy mind. Immediately she wore a scowl.

"Why aren't we in the med bay?" Despite the two men trying to push her down, she sat up, and saw that they were inside a shuttle. "Why are we in a shuttle? Where's Mal?"

Wash looked uneasy. "Listen, baby..."

Zoe took a breath to squash the panic rising in her chest. She closed her eyes and mustered a glare. "Wash. Do not pull this _go-se_ with me now. Tell me plain in simple where the Captain is and why the hell I'm hurt and on a shuttle."

Wash looked even more nervous and glanced over at the Doc. "Honey, there was an explosion. Don't you remember? You knocked Kaylee out of the way and took the blast yourself."

Zoe shook her head. She only had foggy memories of laughing at the dinner table.

Wash continued. "Well Serenity's main and auxiliary life support went out, and the oxygen was low. We were running out of time, and Mal decided that we needed to pack four people in each shuttle and have each take off in different directions." He paused and pointed to the back corner. "River's here with you, me, and Simon."

Zoe kept glaring at Wash, and he cleared his throat. "Inara, Jayne, Kaylee, and Book are in the other."

"I think you're forgetting someone," Zoe growled. "Namely Malcolm Reynolds."

Wash opened his mouth to speak, but Simon beat him to it. Without meeting her eyes, he murmured "The Captain...stayed with his ship." He made eye contact for a split second. "I'm sorry."

Zoe froze. He couldn't. That _shee-niou tah mah duh hwoon dahn. _He wasn't allowed to die and leave her alone. Sure she had Wash, but Wash wasn't Mal. She would always need Mal.

"No."

Wash looked at her. "I'm sorry honey. But maybe someone will stop to help. He might survive and call us back."

Suddenly Zoe's mind started churning. "How long did he have."

"A few hours, tops."

"How long has it been?"

"Maybe...45 minutes."

There was time. There was still time. Zoe glanced over to the corner that Wash had pointed to when he said River was here. She could just see the teenager poking through the shadows.

The little fugitive was sitting scrunched up in the corner with her arms around her knees. She looked up, directly at Zoe, and Serenity's first mate saw something in her eyes. Not something crazy, but something that Zoe could connect to. River nodded, and Zoe knew that somehow the little girl knew exactly what she was thinking. She knew how much she needed Mal to be okay, needed him with her. Looking towards the cockpit, Zoe got up.

"We're going back."

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><p><strong>AN: Review!  
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